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I'm very interested in a 39. After a year of buying several EBRs and hi-cap handguns, I think my lusting is now turning back towards the fine grained stocks and blued barrels of traditional hunting rifles and shotguns.

Besides a CZ Ringneck SxS 20ga, I'm considering a CZ bolt .22, or now the 39. I was thinking about the Henry Golden Boy, but I was just reading about how the Marlin is built like a tank, and is well regarded for its accuracy. I also love lever guns, expecially Marlins.

I don't want to hijack this thread with my decision making process so I'll stop here. I realize this is a club thread, and I'm sorry to say I don't own a 39 yet.

From the 10 minutes of reading I've just conducted, however, they seem like great rifles. The 39 just might beat out the CZ as my next purchase.

I think my lusting is now turning back towards the fine grained stocks and blued barrels of traditional hunting rifles and shotguns...I don't want to hijack this thread with my decision making process so I'll stop here. I realize this is a club thread, and I'm sorry to say I don't own a 39 yet.

Grizz,

You've come to the right place.

Trust me, you're not hijacking at all. As long as the topic involves 39s in some way, it's on topic.
This thread ("club") is for anyone interested in (even exploring) a 39. Ownership is NOT a requirement.

If you'd like opinions about how bolt .22s compare with levers, just ask. You'll find them here.

The "club" concept is not about being exclusive. It's NOT about ownership. It's just a place in cyberspace where owners can come and discuss their guns, and those interested in the gun (whether they own one or not) can find information (or links to it) that they want/need in one place without having to search many different threads. "Club" threads are intended to be a clearinghouse for information with links to other threads (on THR or not). They are not meant to replace other threads. Far from it. They are meant to connect them, to help pull the pieces together into a coherent whole, kind of like an encyclopedia does.

In the end, the gun that is the focus of a "club" (just a metaphorical name for a thread) may be right for some, and not for others. That's cool. If people can find what they want/need to make a decision - pro or con - by visiting the thread, then it's successful. (If not, then just ask!)

It's very interesting that your decision involves a CZ. My path to the 39A involved a CZ 452. The latter is a fine gun. Truly a tack driver. But I realized I'm just not a bolt gun guy, so I sold the 452 to a friend who is more bolt oriented than me. (Actually, I bought my 39A even before I sold the 452.)

I never owned an EBR though I still own an EBS: evil black shotgun = 870P,
which is still my main HD gun (and will remain so; see user name).

But as one who has owned pumps (first: an 870 Wingmaster in 16 ga; now the 870P); then levers (first a 336C .35 Rem in my youth; now a 336A in .30-30); then revolvers (first was a Taurus .38 snubbie; now 642, 686 and soon another J or K frame), I came to understand that my love was for ...

... levers, pumps & wheels.

Welcome to the "club".

Nem

Last edited by Nematocyst; March 20, 2007 at 04:40 AM.
Reason: Corrected a typo

I have a 1954 vintage 39A that I picked up in 2004. Put a Williams Foolproof FireSight on it and it's a real tack driver, even with my old eyes. I use it mostly at our 22 Plate Shoots, but I may put a tang sight on it for Cowboy Action Shooting side matches.

It fits right in with my other Marlins: an 1894 Cowboy Limited in 45 Colt and an 1895G 45-70 Guide Gun.

HOWEVER, HOW BADLY WAS MY 39a'S VALUE (CIRCA THE LATER 50'S) LOWERED by my discovering a bulged barrel and it's subsequent replacement recently by Marlin with a Golden 39A replacement barrel clearly not matched to the receiver's
era

Piney, very interested to hear more about those William's FP sights. How do you compare them with a scope? I've got a Leupold 2-7X rimfire on my 39A, and like it a lot. But if the FP's are as good ...

I don't know how I'd compare them to a scope, other than the fact that - IMHO - a scope looks out of place on a lever action rifle. I have two 10/22s - one with a 3X-9X scope and one with Williams FireSights - and I can shoot equally well with both unless the targets are really small or get out too far, then the scope is definitely an advantage. One thing's for sure; they are waaaaaay better than traditional post and notch iron sights. As my CAS teacher kept telling me, "Front Sight, Front Sight, Front Sight!" The fiberoptic front sight is really easy to pick up.

Piney, that's a really compelling perspective on the FP's. Yeah, I gotta try a set. I'm a .22 scope guy from waaaaaaayyyyy back (Weaver or Swift 3x9 on a Nylon 66 often got my mom and dad 'n me dinner in my teens...), but I gotta agree: on this rifle, somepins' not qwight right 'bout a scope. I'll just have'ta see how it pans out.

I've put XS ghost rings on my 336, and can tell that once I get to the range (soon, I promise myself, soon; just finishing up a term, got some time next week...), they're going to make a HUGE difference over the stock sights. I may put a scout scope on it eventually, but haven't decided yet.

I'm sort of in the same place with the 39: exploring options. I know I don't want GR's on it, and I don't like the open buck horns. Besides that, the sky is the limit.

This is largely why I'm looking forward to scope and sight summaries soon (gee; pardon my alliteration ): so's I can put all this information about options in one place, sit back and think about it ....

I wouldn't do something like this any longer, but it was fun at the time.

Quote:

Yeah, I remember shooting bottles in the creek, too.
Like you, I wouldn't do it now, but it felt right then.

This was probably 30 years ago at the Grand River hunting area (~7000 acres) in Ohio. I was squirrel hunting that day, but there were no critters to be found. So... there were some "slob" hunters upstream from me that were throwing their beer cans in the river, and there are few things better than sinking them with a 39 and a few boxes of .22LRs.

It was still a fun day, even if I didn't bag a squirrel. I think the inebriated hunters (I could hear them from about a quarter-mile away) scared them all off.

Had mine since I was a kid . . . it's gathered lots of "character" over the years & spent countless hours with me on a combine in NE Montana wheat fields. Factory sights, extremely reliable, and when I was a lad, was the bane of jackrabbits.

I got a Marlin 39A last fall. It was manufactured in 1946 and the wood looks like it was made ten years ago. Beautiful gun. Just normal wear on the muzzle and one side of the hammer and the inner surface of the lever. I have a Problem...HELP if you can. I lost the rear sight elevator and I can not find one to match it. Marlin doesn't have them. The style of the rear sight changed in the early fifties. Numrich had one but the smallest end is a little too high and makes the gun shoot high. Brownell's had a kit and the same problem exists with that elevator. Does anyone have an original rear sight elevator that you're not needing? Thanks and keep those Marlins pumping out lead. My son is more accurate with my rifle than I am.

I just received my Tim Skinner sights today. It took about 3-4 minutes to install them. My 39A and I are headed to the range in the morning to see how these things perform. That ring sure looks better than the scope that I removed. I just hope my eyes are still good enough to group shots like I could with the scope on. I don't think I could ever hold mine still enough to group small fingernail-size groups like Cajunbass, but I might could do dime-size groups. That's good enough for minute of squirrel head.

I saw this thread about 2 weeks ago, but haven't had time to say anything until now. I have a newer one (manufactured in 2006), got it back in October. So far it has lived up to my high expectations. Well worth the long wait.

Can't compare it to other .22 levers (never owned/shot any), but I think it was money well spent. Added a Williams 5D and a sling - that's about all I plan on doing as far as upgrades.

Makes a nice "little brother" to my 336. I've only got about 2 bricks or so through it, but I plan on shooting it a bunch and getting real good with it when the weather warms up some more.

I'm not familiar with the difference in your sight elevator and my new one, but is it possible to file the one you have down a little?

If you have one, and a vice, and some blueing touch-up, that sounds like a great smithy practice job. Won't cost you much, and it doesn't sound like you have much to lose. Sounds like a fun Saturday afternoon project!

Thank you for the suggestions. I am calling the suggested companies now. I will try filing if I can't find the original article. I know it won't affect function but I would like to have the original parts. I have to say that without the elevator the gun is scary accurate at up to 25 yards with bead dead on target.

Ben, if you can't find originals, it could be worthwhile in this case (to preserve the aesthetics of an older rifle) to consult a metal fabricator or a machine shop. If you at least had an image of the original part, they could probably make one for you for not too many bucks.

I was afraid my Marlin 39D would get lonely in the safe, so I got him a big brother to keep him company -- Marlin 1894C in .357 Magnum.

As you can see, I'm a Marlin levergun fan. All things considered, though, the 39 is my favorite. I can shoot all day for a few bucks (.357 ammo has gotten rather pricey), and it kills tin cans just as well.

Finally got to try out my Skinner aperture sights today at the range. I did not install the front, only the rear sight. There was a little adjustment to be done at the first. The rear was a little low. It took about 3 turns of the aperture post to get it high enough. The lane that I was given was not a full 25 yds because of cable problems the last 5 or 6 yds. But at about 20 yards I could group about a nickel-size diameter. I left the small aperture in the sight and had absolutely no problem getting a sight picture. I think I'm really gonna like these things and they sure look better than my scope did. I keep thinking Roy Rogers (childhood hero) would have used a ghost ring, not a scope.

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